What to Look For in Southwest Airlines, United Continental Q4 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) are scheduled to release their fourth-quarter earnings reports before the markets open on Thursday.

From Southwest, the consensus estimates call for $0.90 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.00 billion in revenue. In the same quarter of the previous year, the company posted EPS of $0.59 and $4.53 billion in revenue.

Southwest continues to expand routes, increasing its footprint and brand awareness all over the country, and it remains a low-cost leader. It is also the top pick across Wall Street. With the domestic market showing reasonably good strength, and the pricing environment looking very solid through next year, revenues should stay strong and continue to grow. Jet fuel prices, which remain much lower than in past years, is almost 30% of Southwest’s total costs and have been a key for improving revenues and earnings. With almost no international business at this time, currency headwinds are not an issue for Southwest.

Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. It operates the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, the majority of which are equipped with satellite-based Wi-Fi providing gate-to-gate connectivity.

In 2016, Southwest’s stock has been more or less in line with the broad markets. The stock is down 8% year to date. However, over the past 52 weeks, the stock is actually up 1%.
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Thomson Reuters has consensus EPS estimates on United Continental that call for $2.58, up from $1.20 in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue is forecast at $9.08 billion revenue, while in the same period of the previous year the company reported revenue of $9.31 billion.

This company still feels lingering effects of the merger with Continental five years ago. United has been a show-me story for many investors, as the merger has not been smooth, and customers have experienced numerous computer glitches that have snarled traffic over the past two years.

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of nearly 5,000 flights a day to 373 airports across six continents. In 2014, they operated nearly 2 million flights carrying 138 million customers. United claims to have one of the world’s most comprehensive route networks, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

So far in 2016, United has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down over 20% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is down over 31%.

Southwest shares were trading down on Wednesday, nearly 5% to $37.65, with a consensus analyst price target of $54.23 and a 52-week trading range of $31.36 to $51.34.

Shares of United were down 2.5% to $44.06, within a 52-week range of $42.17 to $74.52. The consensus price target is $79.64.